I hope you are learning much about the Holy Spirit as we dig into the Word together this summer. My own spirit has been refreshed by the study and message preparation, even becoming more keenly aware that God desires to constantly teach us life lessons through the Holy Spirit. Please go to our home screen and click on Video Sermons to join us in our study titled, “Unleashed.”
I have read with great interest all of the articles regarding the continual flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from the British Petroleum well breach. The Holy Spirit has pointed out more than once that the whole debacle is a perfect depiction of the Human condition.
Try though we may, we do not have the ability to prevent our own sin from leaking out and impacting the world around us. We can work hard to cap, to capture, to clean up the mess of our brokenness but our success if any will be short lived. Everyone will have an opinion as to what went wrong and what we should do to make amends. Accusations, blame and excuses will abound. People will take sides, make alliances , spread rumors and exaggerate. All the while the stain of our communal sin continues to spew and spread into the world.
So called experts will gather to collaborate on the perfect solution and may successfully curb or cease the flow of our sin into the lives of others, but down deep we know it will be a temporary fix. The breach will happen again.
Our only hope is a Savior. God sent his Son to do what experts, politicians, well meaning friends and religious leaders will never be able to do, permanently repair and clean up the mess created by the broken well head called out heart.
“If we confess that the well head of our lives is broken, God will forgive us and send the
Holy Spirit to repair the breach, clean up the mess and give us a fresh start.” I John 1:9
It begins with admitting your are powerless to repair the leak and clean up the mess caused by your brokenness and asking Jesus to come in and take over the job. Next, ask for forgiveness from God and those who have experienced the residue of your sin washing up on the beachhead of their own lives. Your next step is critical, get connected to a local church and get involved in a safe small group where you can receive support and be held accountable. We all need checks and balances in our lives to minimize the risk of repeating the same breach over and over again.
Are you tired of living in an environment that suffocates, even destroys the beauty of life? Are you weary of working to repair and clean up from the same break in the wellhead of your life over and over and over again? Are you ready for a new life, a new chance, a fresh start?
Please email me at rick.owen@stmattcpc.org if I can pray for you or connect you with a mentor to help you take your next step. Help is only one click away.
Peace,
Rick
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
The Perfect Response to an Imperfect Game
By now even the most anti-baseball fan has heard about the umpire whose bad call denied the Detroit Tiger’s Armando Galarraga a perfect game and a place in baseball history on the very last out. The call has been reviewed numerous times and there is no doubt Jason McDonald of the Cleveland Indians was out number 27. A perfect game, 27 batters 27 outs, is a rare if not Hall of Fame guaranteeing feat. In the entire history of professional baseball, only 20 pitchers have thrown a perfect game. Armando and his teammate won the contest after facing one more batter but the deed had been done.
While fans, media experts and legislators continue to lobby for MLB commissioner Bud Selig to overturn the call and award Galarraga with his much deserved place in baseball lore, the wronged pitcher and umpire Jim Joyce, have distanced themselves from the furor. In so doing, Galarraga and Joyce are teaching us how to live out some of the most important life lessons ever taught.
Instead of ranting and raving after the call, Galarraga calmly returned to the mound and completed his job. He didn’t stomp around the infield, pout, throw a hissy fit, get in the umpire’s face or seek revenge by throwing at the next batter. He CHOSE to remain calm and quickly went back to work.
While the baseball and Detroit political community sought justice days after the game, Galarraga returned to his post game regimen to prepare for his next start. He did not hold a press conference saying he was robbed, posted nothing on face book or tweeted his indignation to riled up fans. He did not play the discrimination card; demand an apology or a reversal of the call. Here is the heart of his comments on the whole situation….”Nobody is Perfect. Everyone makes a mistake.”
Interesting, instead of berating the umpire who robbed him of the rarest feat in all of baseball, a perfect game, Armando simply stated the obvious and moved on.
What about the perpetrator? Did umpire Jim Joyce make excuses? Did he justify, get defensive, stick to his guns saying everyone else was wrong and he was right? Listen to this…..”I robbed that kid of a perfect game. I messed up.”
The life lessons in this story were first taught many years ago, but it sure is nice to see someone living them out as an example for us all.
“Do unto others as you would have them to unto you.”
“Before removing the speck out of your neighbor’s eye, remove the log from your own.”
“You who is without sin, throw the first stone (baseball).”
“All have sinned and fallen short……'of the perfect game'.”
“Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you.”
“Father, forgive them, for they (umpires) don’t know what they do.”
Neither Armando Galarraga nor Jim Joyce had a perfect game on that historic night, but from where I have viewed this spectacle, both men are teaching us how to “perfectly” respond when life isn’t fair .......... or perfect.
How will you respond?
Peace,
Rick
While fans, media experts and legislators continue to lobby for MLB commissioner Bud Selig to overturn the call and award Galarraga with his much deserved place in baseball lore, the wronged pitcher and umpire Jim Joyce, have distanced themselves from the furor. In so doing, Galarraga and Joyce are teaching us how to live out some of the most important life lessons ever taught.
Instead of ranting and raving after the call, Galarraga calmly returned to the mound and completed his job. He didn’t stomp around the infield, pout, throw a hissy fit, get in the umpire’s face or seek revenge by throwing at the next batter. He CHOSE to remain calm and quickly went back to work.
While the baseball and Detroit political community sought justice days after the game, Galarraga returned to his post game regimen to prepare for his next start. He did not hold a press conference saying he was robbed, posted nothing on face book or tweeted his indignation to riled up fans. He did not play the discrimination card; demand an apology or a reversal of the call. Here is the heart of his comments on the whole situation….”Nobody is Perfect. Everyone makes a mistake.”
Interesting, instead of berating the umpire who robbed him of the rarest feat in all of baseball, a perfect game, Armando simply stated the obvious and moved on.
What about the perpetrator? Did umpire Jim Joyce make excuses? Did he justify, get defensive, stick to his guns saying everyone else was wrong and he was right? Listen to this…..”I robbed that kid of a perfect game. I messed up.”
The life lessons in this story were first taught many years ago, but it sure is nice to see someone living them out as an example for us all.
“Do unto others as you would have them to unto you.”
“Before removing the speck out of your neighbor’s eye, remove the log from your own.”
“You who is without sin, throw the first stone (baseball).”
“All have sinned and fallen short……'of the perfect game'.”
“Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you.”
“Father, forgive them, for they (umpires) don’t know what they do.”
Neither Armando Galarraga nor Jim Joyce had a perfect game on that historic night, but from where I have viewed this spectacle, both men are teaching us how to “perfectly” respond when life isn’t fair .......... or perfect.
How will you respond?
Peace,
Rick
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Lessons from Ethiopia
I am still processing all of the things God wants me to learn from the mission trip to Ethiopia. Here are a few of the lessons I am wrestling with.
- God’s love and grace is the universal language. It bridges all languages, cultures and ethnicity.
- Sin has created a brokenness in humanity that prevents us from being loving and lovable.
- Jesus is the catalyst of reconciliation, “for God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son.”
- The Holy Spirit is the power that transforms us into loving and lovable people.
- We must daily surrender to Jesus asking him to unleash the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that today we might be more loving and lovable.
So that has been my prayer for me and that has been my prayer for you in since arriving back in the states.
Love doesn’t mean we condone or turn the other cheek to immoral or sinful behavior. Love doesn’t mean a lack of justice or the ignoring of boundaries. Love doesn’t mean an absence of anger, disappointment or expectation. Love means that when we are offended, or hurt, or turned off by, or disagree with, or can’t relate to another person’s ideas, looks, lifestyle, politic s, beliefs, attitudes or faith we first and foremost see a person that Jesus loved and died for on the cross.
I wonder, how different would be the world, our nation, our communities, our families, St. Matthew, our denomination, and the Church as a whole if we chose to love like we have been loved by Jesus? I wonder, how different would be my life? How different would be your life?
“Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” I John 2:15-16
I am praying for you. You pray for me.
Peace,
Rick
- God’s love and grace is the universal language. It bridges all languages, cultures and ethnicity.
- Sin has created a brokenness in humanity that prevents us from being loving and lovable.
- Jesus is the catalyst of reconciliation, “for God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son.”
- The Holy Spirit is the power that transforms us into loving and lovable people.
- We must daily surrender to Jesus asking him to unleash the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that today we might be more loving and lovable.
So that has been my prayer for me and that has been my prayer for you in since arriving back in the states.
Love doesn’t mean we condone or turn the other cheek to immoral or sinful behavior. Love doesn’t mean a lack of justice or the ignoring of boundaries. Love doesn’t mean an absence of anger, disappointment or expectation. Love means that when we are offended, or hurt, or turned off by, or disagree with, or can’t relate to another person’s ideas, looks, lifestyle, politic s, beliefs, attitudes or faith we first and foremost see a person that Jesus loved and died for on the cross.
I wonder, how different would be the world, our nation, our communities, our families, St. Matthew, our denomination, and the Church as a whole if we chose to love like we have been loved by Jesus? I wonder, how different would be my life? How different would be your life?
“Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” I John 2:15-16
I am praying for you. You pray for me.
Peace,
Rick
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